I've owned my DVR+ with Seagate 1TB USB external disk for about a month. Occasionally while playing back a recorded program the picture breaks up for between 5 - 30 seconds. I don't think this is a reception problem because watching the station in real-time never breaks up. This is unacceptable. Can you imagine if this was a recording of the super bowl that you had watched for 3 hours and you weren't able to watch the last 30 seconds of a goal line situation that determined the results of the game??

So you really don't know until you put an antenna up and give it a try.

That can be an expensive proposition for something that may not work out. I don't recall what I paid for it, seven years ago, but the Winegard HD7078P VHF/UHF "medium" antenna I bought was not exactly cheap. Nor was the high-quality low-noise mast-mounted preamp I tried.

I think that if I were in blackbeasst's shoes, I'd call around and see if there was anybody that would contract to put up an antenna with a certain level of guaranteed results, before I'd go making $200-$300, or more, guesses.

blackbeasst: You might be better-served by moving your reception/antenna questions over to the geographically proper thread in the Local HDTV Info and Reception forum.

I have a 1 hour recording which was recorded yesterday using the "record all with this name" option (not manual). It starts breaking up at the 15 minute mark and continues to the end. I reset to the front and played back through the program recording. It has the same picture breakup at the 15 minute mark.

Is this is a "feature" of "record all with this name"? Maybe there are no problems if done with "manual recording" ???

The fact that the playback error occurs every time at the same spot means that you had a reception problem during that time. You can determine if a breakup is caused by the firmware glitch by playing the same footage more than once. If it plays fine the second time, the glitchy playback was caused by the firmware, rather than poor reception.

I have a 1 hour recording which was recorded yesterday using the "record all with this name" option (not manual). It starts breaking up at the 15 minute mark and continues to the end. I reset to the front and played back through the program recording. It has the same picture breakup at the 15 minute mark.

Is this is a "feature" of "record all with this name"? Maybe there are no problems if done with "manual recording" ???

No not a feature of auto record. This is a new issue. In the Video Glitch thing it plays back okay the second time. I don't know what to tell you other then see if you can check the Hard Drive or call CM.

Seagate and Western Digital have a longstanding rivalry. WD seems to have pulled ahead in recent years, but you can always potentially get a lemon when you buy a mechanical device, regardless of which brand you choose.

I can't speak to that, but, over many years in I.T., I've generally felt something other than Seagate to be the better choice. Currently I prefer Western Digital.

TBH: It never even occurred to me that CM had tested/recommended USB drives. I just went out and bought the current iteration of what's been working for me, in a backup role on my home server, for 2-1/2 years.

So .... for scheduled recordings you have to manually aim the antenna at either Bakersfield or Fresno ahead of time? Seems kind of cumbersome.

Luckily the azimuth of the Fresno stations is near 180 degrees from the azimuth of the Bakersfield stations. So the antenna picks them both up... one on the front and the other on the backside. But you're right about the issue... I do have to rotate if I want to guarantee the best signal in all conditions.

I found a glitch in the grid recording this week... I used the guide to record EXTANT this past week, which in the guide showed to be on between 8 and 9 CDT. In the meantime, the network moved EXTANT to the 9 to 10 CDT time slot. The DVR did not correct the time. It recirded the replacement show in the 8 to 9 time slot as originally scheduled and not EXTANT. I have been following this thread for awhile, and I don't recall seeing this particular situation before, but please correct me if that is not the case. Anybody else run across this? I ended up having to stream the episode using a Verizon wi-fi hotspot which only has 5 gigs of data access...

You never know where the LIMIT is until you EXCEED it... Dianne B. "Let's try that again... without the oops." (Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum in "Independence Day")

@trp2525
According to the people at Channel Master, the only remote they say will work is theirs which they are out of production. Are you suggesting this DISH remote would be compatible? They said a universal remote won't work. If you're fairly sure it's compatible I'll go buy the one from the link to eBay.

I found a glitch in the grid recording this week... I used the guide to record EXTANT this past week, which in the guide showed to be on between 8 and 9 CDT. In the meantime, the network moved EXTANT to the 9 to 10 CDT time slot. The DVR did not correct the time. It recirded the replacement show in the 8 to 9 time slot as originally scheduled and not EXTANT. I have been following this thread for awhile, and I don't recall seeing this particular situation before, but please correct me if that is not the case. Anybody else run across this? I ended up having to stream the episode using a Verizon wi-fi hotspot which only has 5 gigs of data access...

Thanks for posting. I thought my DVR+ was back to recording the wrong channel again. I didn't know Extant was shown an hour later.

@trp2525 According to the people at Channel Master, the only remote they say will work is theirs which they are out of production. Are you suggesting this DISH remote would be compatible? They said a universal remote won't work. If you're fairly sure it's compatible I'll go buy the one from the link to eBay.

Obviously the people at Channel Master don't know what they are talking about. They should do more reading here at AVS Forum to get an education about their own products.

Do a thorough search of this thread and the Dish DTVPal DVR/Channel Master CM-7000PAL DVR thread and you will see that the Dish 20.1 learning remote is a direct replacement remote (or as close as you will find) for both the Dish DTVPal DVR and the Channel Master CM-7000PAL DVR. It can also be used with the Channel Master DVR+ (some people like it much better than the original remote that comes with the DVR+). Some posters in both threads have also posted extensive programming tips and suggestions for use of the Dish 20.1 learning remote with these DVRs. Plus $6.75 with free shipping is not a bad deal at all!

The original Dish DTVPal DVR remote is on the left and the Dish 20.1 learning remote is on the right in the attached picture. The Channel Master CM-7000PAL DVR came with the same remote as the Dish DTVPal DVR but it was black in color instead of silver.

If you're fairly sure it's compatible I'll go buy the one from the link to eBay.

And not only is it compatible with the the PAL, it works (for the PAL) out-of-the-box (no learning or programming required) when the SAT button is pressed. Mine has the AUX mode programmed for the DVR+, so I can control both (though I don't because I have the original PAL remote too).

Not quite sure how this topic drifted over to this thread - probably best to take it back over there.

With the help of IrScrutinizer, was able to create discrete on and off commands:

POWER ON: 47
POWER OFF: 46

According to Channel Master the commands are:
Discrete On 0x37 (Function 55 Decimal)
Discrete Off 0x38 (Function 56 Decimal)
But, the CM commands did not work for me.

Can you please explain how to use these codes? I have a MX-850 remote controller. How do program that to accept the Discrete and on and off codes? This device will accept the Pronto hex codes, do you know those codes are?

I found a glitch in the grid recording this week... I used the guide to record EXTANT this past week, which in the guide showed to be on between 8 and 9 CDT. In the meantime, the network moved EXTANT to the 9 to 10 CDT time slot. The DVR did not correct the time. It recirded the replacement show in the 8 to 9 time slot as originally scheduled and not EXTANT. I have been following this thread for awhile, and I don't recall seeing this particular situation before, but please correct me if that is not the case.

It's a risk you take when relying on a guide for your recordings. If the guide is wrong, you'll miss them. This is especially true if your guide data only gets refreshed once a week or every few days, as sudden schedule changes won't be reflected in the old guide data. Even TiVo has this problem sometimes, depending upon how sudden the schedule change is.

It's a risk you take when relying on a guide for your recordings. If the guide is wrong, you'll miss them. This is especially true if your guide data only gets refreshed once a week or every few days, as sudden schedule changes won't be reflected in the old guide data. Even TiVo has this problem sometimes, depending upon how sudden the schedule change is.

Yes I've had the same thing happen with my Tivo that only updates it's guide ~ every 30 hrs.
Note it's not just name based or guide recordings that would be effected by a schedule change, time or VCR based recordings would be the same thing(even worse since they don't update, ever). If you programmed Extant a week ago to record at 8-9pm and the network moved it to 9-10pm you'd still miss it

True. But I think you can rate various vendors on how accurately (quickly) they update their guides. I know in this case WMC reflected the change. And it certainly wasn't a last minute change.... perhaps other DVR+ users were updated... of which I'm guessing.

If you're located in Fremont CA or nearby and your DVR+ antenna pulls in all the local stations without drop outs I'd be interested in knowing what antenna you're using, if you use a pre-amp, how high is your antenna and how long the cable is between your antenna and the DVR+.

My directional antenna points to San Francisco where most of the nearby TV towers are.

Channel 36 KICU drops out all the time. The KICU tower is 3 miles away in San Jose, 120 degrees away from where my antenna points.

KRON channel 4, drops out occasionally. The KRON tower is 36 miles away in San Francisco. The antenna level is 47 and antenna quality is 100 for KRON.

Considering I have a large directional antenna, 20 feet high, pointing at KRON, that's only 36 miles away, I'm surprised the antenna level is only 47. Maybe I need a pre-amp. My cable is 30 feet between the antenna and the DVR+ and on a 2 way splitter.

And not only is it compatible with the the PAL, it works (for the PAL) out-of-the-box (no learning or programming required) when the SAT button is pressed. Mine has the AUX mode programmed for the DVR+, so I can control both (though I don't because I have the original PAL remote too).

Not quite sure how this topic drifted over to this thread - probably best to take it back over there.

I ordered two of them last night! I have my original CM7000PAL box and remote that I bought brand new from Channel Master around 4 years ago which is still working perfectly. I finally decided to purchase a second CM7000PAL box and remote on eBay two weeks ago and unfortunately the remote doesn't work which was a bummer because I paid 300.00. Oh well.

Even though my original remote still works I still went ahead and bought two of these remotes you have recommended. Looking forward in receiving them. I'll give a quick reply back once they arrive.

I think you can rate various vendors on how accurately (quickly) they update their guides. I know in this case WMC reflected the change. And it certainly wasn't a last minute change.... perhaps other DVR+ users were updated... of which I'm guessing.

I recall reading that the DVR+ would only update its Internet guide weekly by default, in which case it would be far more vulnerable to schedule changes than a TiVo, which updates multiple times each week. I could be wrong about the interval, though.

It is true that both name-based and time-based recordings are vulnerable to schedule changes, but at least if you're using timers, you expect that you'll have to make adjustments. The general reliability of name-based recording trains you not to check up on your DVR, so when a recording is missing, it comes as more of a surprise.

Can you please explain how to use these codes? I have a MX-850 remote controller. How do program that to accept the Discrete and on and off codes? This device will accept the Pronto hex codes, do you know those codes are?

The MX-850 is a learning remote, just like my MX-500. So why not just teach it from the original? That's what I did. Works like a champ!

Can you please explain how to use these codes? I have a MX-850 remote controller. How do program that to accept the Discrete and on and off codes? This device will accept the Pronto hex codes, do you know those codes are?

Every remote controller system, like AV equipment, is different. I am not familiar with the MX-850. Learning remotes can only learn from the existing buttons on the teaching remote. The DVR+ has a power toggle button. But, it does not have a power on or off buttons. This is your opportunity to learn how to program your remote. Search the Internet and support pages to find out how to programmatically add device commands to macros.

If your remote system can send and receive commands via your local network, the irScrutinizer http://www.harctoolbox.org/ is a great tool for translating the device command to your remote control system.

I use RoomieRemote and it does an excellent job of knowing if a device is on or off. However, I still like being able to press one button and know all my devices will be turned off. You cannot do this with a power toggle function. You need to know each devices discrete power off command.

I recall reading that the DVR+ would only update its Internet guide weekly by default, in which case it would be far more vulnerable to schedule changes than a TiVo, which updates multiple times each week. I could be wrong about the interval, though.

It is true that both name-based and time-based recordings are vulnerable to schedule changes, but at least if you're using timers, you expect that you'll have to make adjustments. The general reliability of name-based recording trains you not to check up on your DVR, so when a recording is missing, it comes as more of a surprise.

As in daily to you mean every 24hrs and at the same time or does it vary? Tivo says daily as well but at least with my dial-up Tivo it's ~ every 30 hrs. and of course then the time it updates changes all the time. Not sure if internet connected Tivos update more frequently but it would make sense as unlike a dial-up system it's not tying up a phone line and wouldn't really use much internet bandwidth or KBs.

As in daily to you mean every 24hrs and at the same time or does it vary? Tivo says daily as well but at least with my dial-up Tivo it's ~ every 30 hrs. and of course then the time it updates changes all the time. Not sure if internet connected Tivos update more frequently but it would make sense as unlike a dial-up system it's not tying up a phone line and wouldn't really use much internet bandwidth or KBs.

It's hard to define update. If you mean last minute changes, they would be hard to detect. An example is the change of Extant from 9pm EDT to 10pm EDT. If you mean extending the last day it's easy to check. Every morning I check. It's a habit I developed with the Sony DHG which also used Rovi. As for TiVo, I find the guide ending can vary by two or three days. The time is a constant for me: 2pm EDT. The DHG was 3AM. And programs that started before the cutoff and ran past the cutoff would still display. I don't know of anyone who has proved that the guide data is sent all at once either. It could be built from smaller pieces then displayed when complete.

Online, I find Zap2It the most accurate. And if you missed the change of Extant, it was announced a week before the change. But you won't know if you skip commercials 100% of the time.